Ore loading machine



Nov. 3, 1936. B. R. SHEETS I 2,059,660

ORE LOADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l llll" ATTORNEY.

Nov. 3, 1936. B. R. H T 2,059,660

ORE LOADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 a JD 4. 30

uu x4975 up}? u 34v U3 6' 7 MENTOR.

Fig 4. Barionfii 5738616 1936- B. R. SHEETS ,0

' ORE LOADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 v INVENTOR.

Barton f2 6 F LDVo 3, 1936. SHEETS 2,059,660

ORE LOADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 49 'INVENTOR.

50 /4 47 50 Bantam/ZS/zeeia I BY ATTORNEY.

NQV. 3, 1936. R SHEETS 2,059,660

ORE LOADING MACHINE Filed Sept. 9, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Barton/i.Sheets ATTORNEY.

-. loader may be moved to its several functioning gitudinally throughthe center of the loading 7 ing motor for th'eshovel.

the shovel in its loading posit on.

movement from 'place to place within a mine Patented i Nov. .3, 1 936 sPATENT. OFFICE oar: noannvo' mom Barton 3.. Sheets, Denver, 6010.,assignor Gardner-Denver Company, Denver, 0010., a

corporation of Delaware v Application September 9,1935, Serial No.39,684

5' Claims. (or 214-132) My invention relates to improvements in me-Figure 4 is a sectional chanical loaders and is more particularlydirect- 4-4 of Figure 3. ed to that type of machine adapted for loadingFigure 5 is a top plan view of the main truck material, such as minemuck, in cars. upon which the shovel'mechanism is mounted.

The main object of the invention is to provide Figure 6 is a sideelevation'of Figure 5 with a loader having a shovel mounted upon a.rockcertain parts broken away to disclose structural ing support, saidsupport being moved to and details and particularly the location oi! thedrivfro inhorizontally disposed guideways, and dur- 'ing motor for thetruck.

ing such movement said rocking support causing Figure 7 is a viewsimilar to Figure 6 but showa swinging action of the shovel within alimited ing the truck as viewed .irom the opposite side area and withoutundue strain to the mec'haniand disclosing particularly the drivinggears for cal parts of the unit. the tractiomwheelsr Another object 01the invention is to provide Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on theline a loaderiilight in structure, compact and positive 88 of Figure 3.in its operation; and of such a size that it might Figure 9 isa"diagrammatic view showing the 15 be used in underground work,permitting its position occupied by the shovel in the act of I loadingand the position assumed during its travel to its dumping position. v

Figure 10 isa similar view showing the shovel in its dumping'positionand also the position 20 occupied by the shovel during the period of itstravel. Q

Figure 11 is-a detailed view showing the manner oi mounting therotatable shaft controlling the movement of the shovel. i

Figures 12 and 13 indicate diagrammatically Y the positions. which theshovel may occupy with respect to the main truck, and

Figure 14 is a detailed viejw showing the trip mechanism operated by theshovel when approaching its dumping position.

Briefly, the invention hereinabout to be 'described is directed to aloading or mucking machine designed particularly for use in mine workand it naturally follows that such a machine must. be small andcompactin its structure and positive in its operation. a

The mucker as a unit includes a truck mounted upon suitable tractionelements operating upon the usual narrow gauge mine track. Mounted,'upon this truck is a body structure rotatable abouta verticalaxis andprovided with the necessary controlling elements and driving'vmeans forI moving a scoop shovel to a loading position and from the loadingposition to a dumping position, 46

- the dumping position being somewhat elevated 1 from the loadingposition. The movement of i the shovel from one position to the otherbeing permitted within a limited head room.

The unit as a whole includes suitable motive means, preferably of a typeoperated by com pressed air, whereby the unit is propelled back andforth upon'its track, together with a, second motive means for operatingthe shovel inde- UNI-TED STATE view taken on the line withoutdismantling.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism whereinthe shovel oi the positions within a limited area and such movementsbeing under the control of the operator at all times. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanicalloadelmounted upon a traction truck and so positionedkthereupon as topermit lateral swing of the shovel in combination with a longitudinalswing.

Another object of the invention is to provide means controlled by theshovel during its swinging movement to interrupt the flow of operatingfluid to the shovel operating motor and such means being operated at aperiod prior to the dumping action.

Another object of the invention lies in the pro-' vision of means forinitially returning the shovel from its dumping position to such a pointin its movement that its return to its loading position may be completedby gravity.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thehereinafter specification when considered in view of the accompanyingdrawings, in which a a I Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view takenion-- unit showing certain/ parts thereof elevation.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1 as viewed from the operator'sside of the unit, showing certain parts of the structure broken away-inorderto disclose more elearly the operat- Figure -3 is a top'plan vie ofFigure 1 with pendently oi the truck-movement. The unit is constructedin such a manner as to provide a positive guide for the shovel duringits movement from one position to the other, together with a positivelocking element for maintaining the shovel at any point within itsoperating limits. Certain automatic means have been providedforcontrolling the flow of air to the shovel operating means and forinsuring the positive return of the shovel subsequent to its dumpingperiod.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numeralsdenote corresponding parts throughout, the numeral l4 indicates ingeneral a truck member upon whicha rotatable shovel supporting structureis mounted, the same being referred to and described more fullyhereinafter. The truck element is composed of a casting having arectangular flat top face with depending legs 15 at its front and rearportions. The mid portion of the casting is substantially U shaped asshown in Figure 6, receiving therein a driving motor I5 mounted uponbrackets l1 fixed as at 18 to portions of the de-' axles 20 having keyedto the outer ends of each traction wheels 2| adapted for railengagement.

As shown in Figure 7 one side of the truck casting I4 has detachablysecured thereto a suitable gear housing'22 within which gears 23 and 24are mounted for rotation upon stub shafts flxed to the casing. Thesegears mesh with a drive gear 25 keyed to the main shaft of the motor [6.

The gears 23 and 24 positioned within the. housing further mesh withlarger gears 28 and 21 keyed to the axles 28. With this structure itwill be apparent that upon operation of the driving motor the axles 28.will be caused to rotate,. thus aflording the means for impartingdriving force to the traction wheels.

To control the flow of fluid passing to the driving motor I8 a reversingvalve 28 is provided,.the details of which may be of any desiredstructure, but preferably one in which the controlling element may beoperated by remote control through the medium of a flexible connection29, connected to a control handle 38 pivotally mounted on the operator'sside of a rotatable structure hereinafter described.

From the above it will be evident that upon the proper control of thevalve 28 the truck as a unit maybe caused to move in any desireddirection longitudinally of itstrack.

Operating fluid for the driving motor 15, preferably compressed air, issupplied through a flexible conduit 3| which is connected to an angularnipple 32 fixed within one end of a cored passageway 33 extendingtransversely through the mainportion of the truck casting. The oppositeend in the main supply line may exceed that desirable. for efilcientoperation of the motors and by the proper adjustment of the pressureregulator the pressure of the operating fluid may be'reduced .as

desired. a l

Passing from the pressure regulator" 31 is a flexible conduit 38 whichleads to a suitable T 39, one leg of which is screwed within a secondcored passageway 40 extending transversely of the front end of the truckcasting. Between the ends of this cored passageway 48 is positioned avertical extending pipe. 4| from which fluid may be conducted for apurpose hereinafter set forth. The other outlet from the T 39 has fixedthereto a nipple 42 to which is connected afie'xible conduit 43 leadingto the standing portion which encases the spindle 45 and supports theseveral bearing elements 43 positioned between the spindle and the baseplate.

i The plate 41 has fixed adjacent its longitudinal edges upstanding sideboards 48 and 48, while. its end portions are open permitting throughone the movement of the operating shovel. and at the other free accessto the shovel operating means.

- Positioned upon the base plate 41 and adjacent the inner face of eachside board are longitudinally extending racks 50 the active face of eachbeing cut on an incline as shown in Figure 8 permitting muck and thelike which might accumulate thereupon to fall down upon the base plate.In order to further maintain these racks free of falling ore,particularly muck, there is positioned between each rack and theadjacent side board a perforated pipe 5| through which 'jets of fluidare discharged at such an angle. as

to blow the accumulated debris there'ofl. These pipes 5| are connectedto a common pipe 52 which leads to the exhaust side of a reversiblevalve, controlling the flow of fluid to a motor hereinafter described.Thus it will be seen that during the period that the motor is operatingthe exhaust therefrom is utilized to maintain the racks 50 clean. I I

Each side board has detachably secured thereto upon its inner face andapproximately midway of its height, a longitudinal elongated guideelement 53,having upper and lower bearing surfaces between which arolling hub 54 is positioned.

gear segments 55 which are cut and shaped so as to intermesh with' thestationary racks 58 fixed upon the base plate. From the structure justset forth it will be observed that the segments 55, are supported solelyby the guide elements 53 and merely engage the racks 58 to insure arolling movement of the segments during their movement within the guideelements 53 in a manner hereinafter described.

Each gear segment 55 has detachably positioned thereupon'an outwardlyprojecting arm 56 and these arms form a support for a suitable shovel51. In order to maintain the gear segments 55 The hubs 54 are formedupon adjacent faces of in their proper spaced relation to each otherthere is, in combination with the shovel 51, a tie bar 88 fixed to therear ends of the projecting armsassh'ownat 59.

To move the gear elements longitudinally of the'racks 50 there isprovided a suitable operating motor, and whileit may be of any desiredtyp one operated by pressure fluid is most preferred. Such a inotor isindicated at 88 and is mounted in any convenient manner'to the rear endof the base plate 41. The motor 68 is similar to the driving motor i6and includes a reversible valve 82 to which suitable operating means isconnected.- Motive fluid for the motor is conveyed through a flexibleconduit 63, one end of which is connected to the upstanding pipe 4|fixed to the truck casting,vwhile the other end is connected to thereversible valve.

formed in the base plate 41 and concentrically with the spindle 45, thuspermitting movement of the base plate with respect to the truck.

casting.

As illustrated in Figure 8 the drive shaft of the motor has keyedthereto a sprocket gear 6|. Positionedover the motor is ahorizontallydisposed driven shaft mounted in suitable ball bearings 66resiliently'supported in bracket elements 6'! fixed to the inner facesof the side boards. The shaft 65 has keyed thereupon a sprocket gear 88to which power from the sprocket gear 6| fixed'to the shaft of the'motoris transmitted by a chain 69.

' The driven shaft 65 has keyed adjacent each side wall a flanged wheel18 upon which acable or chain II is adapted to be wound, one end of eachchain ll being secured to the hub portion of the wheel 10 while itsother end is secured as at 12 to the furthermost portion of the gearsegment 55. The opposite end of the gear segment has on its inner facean enlargement-.13 having formed in its periphery a groove 14 into whichthe chain 'Il might fall when the shovel has been lowered to its loadingposition. Attention is particularly called to this structure inasmuch asthe manner of connecting the cables to the gear elements permitsincreased leverage to the liftin action of the shovel at a period whenit is most desirable.

To control the directional rotation of the motor 68, through the valve62, there is mounted upon the baseplate a shaft 15 adapted to, beoscillated by an operating lever 16 which is keyed to one endofthe shaftand lies parallel with the outer face of one of the side boards.Theupper end of the lever is guided in its movement by a suitablequadrant As shown in Figures 2 and 14 the shaft 15 is provided withoutwardly extending arms I8 and l9 the former being connected, throughthe medium of a. suitable link 80, to the reversible valve 62.. -Withthis structure it will adjacent gear segment. The result of thisstructure being that during that period when the shovel is approachingits dumping position, the enlarged portion 13 carried by the segmentdepresses the arm I8, oscillating the shaft and The pipe 4| 7 extendsthrough an,elongated curved slot 64 through the valve 62 cutting of!the. supply of motive fluid passing to the motor. Upon the interruptionof the flow of operating fluid the shovel continues in its swingingmotion to its dumping position, until its supporting arms engage shockabsorbing springs 82 positioned upon a bar 88 extending horizontallybetweenthe side boards of the structure. Inasmuch as the shovel inapproaching its dumping position is moving rather rapidly when it isstopped abruptly by the shock absorbing springs 82 the contents of theshovel are thrown outwardly.

After the'bucket has assumed the dumping position as shown by dottedlines" in Figural and the contents thereof have been discharged,v

the hand. lever 18, controlling the valve 62, is accordingly moved topermit motive fluid to enter the motor in a reverse direction, causingthemotor to rotate accordingly whereupon the tension to the cables isrelieved permitting the shovel to drop by. gravity to its loadingposition-as indicated in full lines in Figure 1. To insure the initialmovement of the bucket from its dumpa ing position there is fixed uponthe horizontally disposed shaft 65 a curved arm '84 which upon rotarymovement of the shaft contacts one of the supporting arms of the shoveland moves the shovel back beyond its perpendicular line so that itsweight together with that of its supportin structure will insure itsreturn to its leading position.

When the shovel has.returned to its loadin I position and during itsperiod of loading, the

truck casting l4 at its front end carries a curved bearing block 85against which the rear end of the shovel may abut when in its'loadingposition. If desirable, the rear end of the shovel may be provided witha bearing element 86. Thus it will be evident that all strain incidentto the loadin action, particularly when that action'is in a horizontalline, is absorbed by the bearing block, thus giving a direct push to theshovel and at the-same time forming a rigid support therefor. Further-.more, the shovel may be moved progressively into the pile of'materialby movement of the truck upon the track.

Should the material inwhich the shovel is working extend beyond theforward line of track ;view there is provided upon the truck casting iian upstanding lug 81 which projects through a curved slot 88 formed inthe base plate of the shovel supporting structure. The ends of this slot88 are adapted to abut the lug 81 limitingthe swing of the shovel withinthe confines of the usual mine tunnel.

Positioned upon the side 'of the truck casting corresponding to thatside'upon which the operator would stand when operatingtheseveralcontrol levers, there is provided a suitable platform 89supported by the motor supporting bracket l1, previously referred to.This platform 88 is of such a width and length as to provide asuitablestanding place for the operator during the movement of the truck uponthe track, and at such periods as when operating the unit withinconfined quarters. I

The rear end of the truck casting I 4 has fixed centrally thereof bysuitable studs 90 a connecting element 9| to which the coupling link 82o:

an ore. car, not shown, may be connected. This connecting elementincludes a plate having 'formed integral therewith a plurality ofoutstanding spaced fingers 93 having aligned openings in their endportions which receive therein a locking pin 94 which is insertedthrough the openings after the coupling link 92 of theore car has beeninserted' between any two adjacent fingers. Fixed to the rear end of thetruck casting l4 ,and at each corner thereof is an angle bar 95 "ervingmerely as a bumper element protecting the unit from damage when ore carsare assuming their place behind the unit.

As disclosed in Figure 4 the upper face of the truck casting I4 hasprojecting outwardly therefrom a finger portion 96 corresponding to alike finger portion 91 formed integral with the base plate 41. When thebaseplate 41 and the structure carried thereby is in longitudinalalignment with the truck casting l4, these two outwardly extendingfingers fall one over the other and as each finger is provided with anopening a suitable'bolt or the like may be dropped there through to holdthe two elements in alignment.

This is particularly desirable when moving the 'This clutch permitsmovement of the unit upon its track at periods when compressed air isbeing supplied the motor. I

Having thus described in detailthe structure of the unit as a whole, thefollowing is a description of its operation.

The machine is advanced into a pile of mate'- rial by the driving motorIS with the shovel lowered as shown in the full line position in Figurel. Advancement of the machine continues until the shovel is filled withmaterial, and should necessity arise where a digging action is essentialto the filling of the sho'vel, the shovel lifting motor 60 may bemomentarily operated causing the drums 10 carried by the horizontallyrotating shaft, to revolve, winding thereupon the shovel lifting cablesor chains H; thus giving a digging movement 'to the shovel. When.theshovel is filled, motive fluid is supplied'the shovel actuating motor,causing a continued rotation of the shaft and the winding drums carriedthereby, the

result being'that theshovel supporting rockers,

the stationary racks 50, thus givinga rocking action as well as a.straight pull action, the result being that the shovel-is elevated asits operating means is drawn backwardly toward the end of its supportingframe. This action continues until the shovel reaches approximately itsdump- I ing position, whereupon the operator cuts off the supply ,ofmotive fluid to the operating motor, permitting the shovel to dump byits own momentum, and during such action the supporting elementstherefor strike the shock absorbingspiings 82 positioned upon the rearend of the super structure. The inertia caused by this action throws thematerial from the bucket into the ore car which is coupled to the unit.Ordinarily when the motive fluid is cut off from the shovel operatingmotor the recoil of the springs is suflicient to start the return of thedipper by gravity to its loading position. However, should this recoilfail, there is provided upon the horizontally disposed driven shaft 65the kicker element 8 which during the rotation of .the driven shaftengages one of the shovel supporting arms and moves the shovel back to aposition slightly beyond its perpendicular line, thus permitting theshovel to drop by gravity to its loading position. The machine is thenready to repeat its cycle of operation. During the periodof operationjust described, should the operator fail to cut off the supply of motivefluid to the operating motor prior to the shovel dumping its contents,automatic means as set forth in Figure 14 is provided and this merelyincludes a lever fixed to an oscillating shaft, the lever being struckby the rolling segment and depressed, during which movement the valve 62is automatically closed.

From the structure it will be observed that the dipper may be moved fromone side of the truck to the other, as more definitely shown in Figures12 and 13 in the drawings. This movement of the shovel permits thescooping up of material lying outside of the pathin which the unit as awhole travels. It is, of course, under-- stood that movement of the unitto and from its .work is accomplished by the driving motor l6 and thatthis force may be utilizedat some periods in loading the shov during itsloading period truck casting.

It is quite apparent that the foregoing description merely amplifies thestructure shown in the accompanying drawings, and it is, of course,understood that one embodiment of the invention is disclosed. Thestructural details which have been shown are more or less minor to theessence of the invention'which lies in the provision of a rollingelement supported in a fixed position, and during the movement of therolling element the ars directly upon the other.

What I claim is: I

l 1. In a machine of the class described the combination of a motivepropelled truck and a carriage pivotally mounted thereupon, guideelements carried by the carriage, segments supported by theguideelements and movable longitudinally of the carriage, motive meansfor moving said segments, a shovel fixed to the segments, elementscarried bythe carriage and engageable with the segments for imparting arocking movement to the segments and the shovel carried thereby, saidshovel during such movement swinging upwardly over the carriage from aloading position to an elevated dumping position, means forautomatically interrupting the operation of the motive means prior tothe shovel assuming its dumping position,

scoop shovel is thrown from one position to anmanual means for changingthe directional rota-.

tion of the motor, and a cam element operated by the motor andengageable with the shovel forinitially moving the same from its dumpingposition to such a point in its travel where it is returned to itsloading position by gravity.

2. In a shoveling and loading machine, the combination of a truck and-acarriage mounted thereupon and movable about a vertical axis, a

inasmuch as the shovel shovel movably mounted upon the carriage andadapted to move thereover from its loading to its.

dumping positions, motive means for propelling the truck, a secondmotive means for moving the shovel, manually controlled elements mountedupon the carriage and moving therewith for effecting control of bothmotive means, automatic means operated by the shovel for stopping one ofsaid motive means, and one of said. motive means when thrown in reverseoperating an element for moving the shovel from its dumping position toa point whereby it will return to its loading position by gravity. 1

3. In a shoveling and loading machine the combination of a carriage anda shovel movably mounted thereon and adapted to swing from a loadingposition to a dumping position, reversible motor means for moving theshovel from one position to the other, means rotated by the motor meansduring the movement of the shovel, the last said means when rotating inone direction moving the shovel from a dumping position to a point inits return travel whereby it will be returned to its loading position bygravity.

4. In a shoveling and loading machine the combination of a carriage anda shovelmounted functioning position to another, reversible motor meansfor moving the shovel to its several positions, controlling means forthe motor, an element movable by the motor means, and said erement whenmovable in one direction engaging thereon, said shovel adapted to movefrom one the shovel to move the same from a dumping poment movable bythe motor meanS and said element engaging the shovel when in the dumpingposition to initially start the same upon its return to its loadingposition.

